The present invention relates to a protective cover and display device for use on a countertop which includes an opening for the transmission of a signal from a code scanning apparatus located beneath the countertop. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of a thin sheet of material which may be affixed to the counter over the opening, which sheet includes a transparent window overlying the opening and printed advertising or other information on portions of the sheet surrounding the opening.
The automatic scanning and reading of coded products sold at retail has grown rapidly. Typically, a conventional bar code on a product package is scanned by a high intensity light beam, such as a laser beam, and the code information reflected back and processed to output information such as price, product type and quantity. Bar code scanners are typically built into the countertop of a checkout counter enabling the clerk to pass the coded product over an opening in the countertop through which the scanner beam is caused to be projected from below. The laser beam is typically caused to move in a multi-direction pattern so that bar codes may be read even though disposed at an acute angle with respect to the countertop.
Most scanners in use today are enclosed in a protective glass or other transparent cover over which is placed a frame having a slotted pattern representative of the multi-directional lines along which the scanning beam is projected through the glass cover from below. The frame which defines the slotted opening may be mounted flush with the countertop or may extend slightly above the plane of the countertop. The glass cover usually lies immediately under the frame.
When such scanning devices are used in retail outlets, such as food stores and supermarkets, dirt, food particles, and scraps of packaging materials collect in the cracks or joints between the frame and the glass and/or between the frame and the countertop. The resulting accumulation is not only unsightly, but may also be unsanitary and even result in an obstruction to passage of the scanning beam. Keeping the joints or cracks between these countertop components free from dirt, particles and scraps of various kinds requires periodic cleaning which is cumbersome and tedious because of the construction and arrangement of the components.
A typical countertop which may be made, for example, from a stainless steel sheet must be wide enough to accommodate the larger products which are to be processed over the countertop. The scanner opening on the other hand, generally covers a smaller area of that portion of the countertop, although the surrounding frame may vary substantially in area. The area of the countertop immediately surrounding the scanner opening is exposed to and readily visible by a continuous sequence of customers throughout the business day. It is, of course, well known to strategically place certain products, advertising and other information at or in close proximity to a checkout counter where customers are waiting to be served. The countertop itself, particularly the area surrounding the scanner opening, provides another area where advertising or other informative or instructional information could be placed for viewing by customers. However, any such advertising or other information would have to be capable of being affixed to the countertop in a stable manner which would not interfere with the movement of products over the counter or with the operation of the scanner. In addition, the advertising or other information would preferably have to be affixed in a non-permanent manner and capable of being readily removed and/or replaced.